Five-set finals: Craig Tiley plots overhaul for women’s tennis at next year’s Australian Open

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley wants women to play best-of-five sets from the quarter-finals at next year’s tournament despite his future in the top job remaining unclear.

Tiley has already informally discussed the prospect with some players, but would do it only if there was considerable support for the concept, which would see the top women play the final three matches at the Open in the same format as men do from the first round.

The Australian Open women’s singles final between Aryna Sabalenka and Elina Rybakina went to three sets on Saturday night, but under Craig Tiley’s plan, next year’s final would be a best-of-five affair.Credit: AP

He has already assessed whether it would work in the schedule, and if it comes in, a single women’s match – typically best-of-three sets – could headline a night session rather than being before or after a men’s contest.

Tiley said he would not need to gain permission from anyone to make that significant change, which was touted for the 1995 Open, but fell over after a Steffi Graf-led player protest.

“We wouldn’t do it if the players were unanimously against us because we are a players’ slam, so we’ll do it only after very deep consultation,” he told this masthead.

“We’ve spoken anecdotally to some players, and some say, ‘Oh, good idea’, but are not taking it too seriously, but I think it’s something we should explore because [Saturday night’s] final was great. I think there are other matches on the women’s side that were great, too.

“The WTA has new leadership, and I think Valerie [Camillo], the new chair, would be thinking along these lines of, ‘How do we keep adding more good content?’ … but it’s got to be a conversation with the players.”

The news comes as this masthead can reveal that an announcement on Tiley’s future, and whether he accepts a similar role with the United States Tennis Association, will not come within the next week.

He will be involved in the debrief of another record-breaking Australian Open, which had more than 1.3 million people through Melbourne Park’s gates by Saturday night, but will clarify his position at some stage in the coming weeks.

“The speculation has put more of a time frame on it than I have,” Tiley said.

Elena Rybakina and Craig Tiley pose after the women’s singles final.Credit: Getty

Beyond his hope for women to play five-set tennis, the ambitious Tiley has also set three major goals for the 2027 Open, including paying players more than ever, a pit-lane-type player experience, and a performance centre for players to do medical assessments.

There is a continued player push for an increased revenue share from the four grand slams, more welfare benefits and a greater say via a new player council.

Among those demands was a spike from a 16 per cent revenue share to 22 by 2030.

Loading

Tiley told this masthead last month that this year’s record Australian Open prizemoney of $111.5 million exceeded 21 per cent of tournament revenue, and he intended to make that even higher from the 2027 event.

“We want to pay them more money. We want to be aggressive in how we compensate the players,” he said on Sunday. “I don’t know what more is, but 22, 23 [per cent of revenue]. I think we should keep going.”

The pit-lane experience would be a technological upgrade on player chairs that would instantly cool athletes’ body temperature – ideal on scorching Melbourne summer days – and reveal their vital signs on a screen, such as pulse rate and blood pressure.

“It will have cool air going through, and it drops the temperature,” Tiley said.

“They’re shaded and cool, and they go straight in there, and get self-prepared for going on to the next few games.”

Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley on day one of this year’s Open.Credit: Getty Images

Tiley wants the performance centre to be a hub for players’ health, wellness and medical needs that could serve as a once-a-year screening where they could have anything from blood tests to podiatry, dental or dermatological work.

He also forecast more innovations, including an interactive glass court for fans and an immersive dome with 270-degree screens.

Tiley’s multi-year plan is to continue to transform and expand Melbourne Park into the Olympic and Yarra Park precincts, while adding tens of thousands of seats to accommodate the 100,000-plus fans who come through the gates daily for the tennis and entertainment.

“Moving forward, we do need another stadium – but so does Melbourne,” he said.

“[It would be] another show court, but that’ll be down the road. In the meantime, we’ve got a little over 60,000 seats currently. We need more.

“We were close to getting the Collingwood oval this year, and we didn’t, but we will continue to work with all the stakeholders to get there because there’s a way that can be used more effectively during December and January.”

Tiley also addressed players’ privacy concerns after American superstar Coco Gauff’s racquet-smashing incident in the bowels of Melbourne Park after her quarter-final loss to Elina Svitolina.

Loading

Six-times grand slam champion Iga Swiatek was particularly provocative, asking: “Are we tennis players, or are we like animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop.”

“I’ve got no issue with the players saying it,” Tiley said.

“But it’s important that they also understand the facts because there were a few comments that they were film[ed while eating] ... food. That’s just not true. There are no cameras up there.

“But it’s also a balance. If the players don’t want the fans to know them at all; you take everything out, but then everything goes down, including broadcast revenue. We don’t do it to expose the players’ privacy or doing the unnecessary.”

Tennis Australia also reached a settlement with the Professional Tennis Players Association in the past fortnight as part of a wider antitrust lawsuit against the sport’s stakeholders.

Tiley said details of the terms would be made public in the next month or soon after, and that he and the TA board, who unanimously agreed to settle, thought it was a “good arrangement”.

None of the other grand slams or the ATP and WTA has struck a deal with the PTPA.

“I think everyone felt it would have been easier if we all stayed together, but the bottom line is, it’s a lawsuit, so you’ve got to respond to it,” he said.

“You’ve got to look after what’s in your best interest. The slams aren’t all the same … but the view is that over time, we really want everyone to work together. We believe that will happen, but if you look at our situation, as in what’s in the best interests of Tennis Australia, this is the right decision.”

This year’s Australian Open experienced a huge bump in crowd numbers, but that resulted in lengthy queues and delays, and even the pausing of ground pass ticket sales amid the increased festivalisation of the event.

Tiley has been open about the grand slam no longer being purely a tennis tournament, but said he believed the sport element was still the overarching appeal.

“We’ve had a phenomenal event that’s going to be hard to beat. AO 2026 will go down in history for so many reasons, and, in my view, because of its innovation,” he said.

Loading

“But I think it will still be remembered for the tennis. For the first time in grand slam history, the top six men and top six women were in the quarters, and then your final four on the men’s side played in the best semi-finals you will ever see.

“Elena [Rybakina] and Aryna [Sabalenka] played an unbelievable, three-set final. And then [on Sunday night], is it 25 slams [for Novak Djokovic], or the youngest ever [Carlos Alcaraz winning the career Grand Slam]?

“We can’t lose.”

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading